Palm Bay Hospital re-launches Operation Medicine Cabinet

Don't be your child's drug supplier!

PALM BAY, FL - One of the most common drug sources for kids...is their own house!

Consider these stats from the United States Drug Enforcement Administration:

1) Every day, on average, 2,500 teens use prescription drugs to get high for the first time.

2) One in seven teens admit to abusing prescription drugs to get high in the past year. Sixty percent of teens who abused prescription pain relievers did so before the age of 15.

3) Fifty-six percent of teens believe that prescription drugs are easier to get than illicit drugs.

4) Two in five teens believe that prescription drugs are
"much safer" than illegal drugs. And three in ten teens believe that prescription pain relievers are not addictive.

5) Sixty-three percent of teens believe that prescription drugs are easy to get from friends' and family's medicine cabinets.

On Saturday, April 30, 2011 Palm Bay Hospital will be 'ground zero' for Operation Medicine Cabinet, a joint effort between the hospital and law enforcement officers to reduce the amount of prescription drugs that can illegally fall into the hands of children and teenagers.

Palm Bay Hospital, together with the Palm Bay Police Department, will accept all non-prescription over-the-counter medications, prescription medications, and even pet medications for discard. You can bring in pills, liquids, ointments, and lotions. You can leave the medications in the original packaging container or put it in a sealable plastic bag. You can even combine medications in one bag. If you bring in a liquid medication, please put the bottle in a sealable plastic bag to avoid leakage. No IDs or signatures are required.

Operation Medicine Cabinet cannot accept syringes, asthma inhalers, drugs in aerosol canisters, or chemotherapy drugs either in IV liquid or oral form. The medications will be turned over to the United States Drug Enforcement Administration for discarding.